Army of Darkness: The return
by Druid Sorceress
Summary: Our favorite character Ash, is once again reunited with the powers of the Necromonicon and is transported to Ancient Sumeria, the birthplace of the book. Along with his new girlfriend, he goes on another quest to return to the present.
1. How it all began

_Disclaimer: The Evil Dead series and the character Ash are property of Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi, Universal Pictures, and the rest of the people that made this trilogy happen. I do not own anything I mention in this story._

Yeah, I've heard the stories…and I've seen the proof. However, nothing would have been able to prepare me for what eventually befell me.

My roommate Krista and her boyfriend Jason introduced me to Ash Williams more than two years ago. We've been together since.

Jason worked in the Sporting Goods department at the S-Mart. Apparently, according to him; Ash had disappeared for a while and re-appeared a week later, telling of a story of traveling back in time to Medieval England. Upon getting sick and tired of hearing the story over and over, Jason decided that Ash needed a good woman in his life.

Enter me.

I was and still am now a doctorate student majoring in Ancient Civilizations at Michigan State University.

Always preoccupied with my numerous thesis papers and readings, I never paid much attention to the prospects of dating.

Krista and I have been roommates since our undergrad days. As far as I can remember, Jason has always been in the picture. He and Krista were high school sweethearts and Jason has always thought of me as his little sister.

Long story short, Krista and Jason both decided that I needed to start dating. That was around the same time Ash disappeared and returned.

All I can say now is that I still don't regret being set up with him. We complement each other in so many ways and he's always been supportive of me and my endeavors.

A year after we met and started seeing each other, something extraordinary happened, something related to what happened to Ash previously. All I can do is share my story with you.

This story is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for those who disbelieve in the Necromonicon.


	2. A Cabin in the woods

**The Present: One year later**

Krista and Jason had just gotten engaged and wanted to celebrate with Ash and me, so we decided to rent a cabin a few hours away from our sleepy college town. It was a beautiful one storey bungalow with three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room.

Krista and Jason shared one bedroom, Ash and I shared another, and the last one was used as my temporary study so I could work on my thesis on Ancient Greece.

That first night, we sat around a bonfire, enjoying the crisp autumn air and full moon.

"I couldn't have imagined a better way to celebrate our happiness" Jason said, the fire flickering in his blue eyes "I just love the outdoors"

"We definitely picked the right time to go" I agreed, enjoying the chilly night air "It gives me time to catch up on my thesis on Ancient Greek Mythology"

Jason and Krista exchanged amused glances before bursting out laughing.

"Hey, listen to you" Ash said, pulling me close "You've worked so hard on that thesis. Take this long weekend to relax. It might be one of those cherished moments that cannot be taken from you in the face of adversity"

Ash always had a cryptic way with words when it came to me. My guess is that the death of his girlfriend before me, Linda, had him paranoid that something would happen to me too. Maybe that's what kept me attracted to him.

"I know what will liven the mood even more" Jason said excitedly "Let's tell scary stories"

With that, he went first, telling us the classic urban legend of a killer hiding in the backseat of an unsuspecting woman's car.

Krista went next, telling a familiar tale of a man who encounters a wolf-like beast in the woods before becoming like him after being bitten.

Always in the mood, I went next, telling them about the Mesopotamian legend of Gilgamesh, in his fight against the forest guardian demon Huwawa. With each gory detail I recited from memory, I managed to make Jason and Krista look extremely scared from beginning to end.

When I finally finished, the three of us turned to look at the only person left. Ash.

Ash looked uncertain of whether or not to share a story, but knowing Jason wouldn't let it go, he did it anyways.

"A year or so back, my girlfriend Linda and I rented a cabin in the backwoods of Tennessee. An archaeologist and his wife had been in the place before us. He had made some kind of discovery at some castle and came here to translate and recite his findings"

"What findings?" Krista demanded, arching an eyebrow.

"It was the Necromonicon, a book bound by human flesh. It originated in Ancient Samaria—"

"It was written in blood in Ancient Sumerian text" I finished for him. He nodded, smiling grimly at me before continuing.

"He had recorded his translations and Linda and I played the recording. Unfortunately for us, we did not know the ramifications. The Necromonicon was a book filled with funerary incantations, bizarre incantations, and rituals to resurrect demons"

"Ash" Jason interrupted, holding up his hands in disgust "There's no such thing as demons"

"Let him continue" Krista exclaimed, playfully punching her fiancée on the shoulder, making him become silent.

"Go on, Ash" I urged, squeezing his arm.


	3. Ash gets romantic

"There was something evil that stirred up in the woods. It attacked the cabin and took Linda. It also went for me and possessed my right hand, in which I cut off with a chainsaw"

With that, he held up his right hand, which housed his eerie looking metal artificial hand.

"But it didn't stop there. I ended up being transported to medieval England, where I helped a kingdom recover the Necromonicon, unwittingly releasing the Army of Darkness, which was led by my evil clo--"

"Enough" Krista said, covering her ears "I don't care if it's real or not. I can't hear any more"

"C'mon Ash" Jason groaned, as he and Krista stood up "I don't think any of that actually happened"

"But it's true" Ash exclaimed indignantly "This stuff really happened"

"Time for bed" Krista said quickly, taking Jason's arm "Sweet dreams, you two"

"Night" I replied, stretching.

Ash remained silent, the fire flickering in his dark eyes.

"Hey cheer up hun" I said, squeezing his hand "Jason has always been the disbelieving jock. You're not crazy. I believe almost everything you've said about the situation, however, the time travel bit is hard to fathom"

"What proof is needed to make everyone else believe me?" he asked, exasperated "I'm sick of everyone, especially Jason looking at me as if I made everything up in my own twisted mind!"

"All it needs is research, hun" I said, sitting on his lap "Do you think that book is still where you last left it?"

Ash looked at me, grateful for my supportive involvement.

"Let's focus on that later" he said, flashing me a sexy grin "In the meantime, gimme some sugar, baby"

We moved our faces closer for a long, tender kiss before eventually pulling away.

"I knew there was a big reason why I love you" he said, stroking my cheek "Your support means more to me than anything in the world"

"I'll always be there for you, Ash" I replied, snuggling into him "no matter what"

We both sat like that for a long while before deciding to go inside…

… The next morning, I awoke early and quickly got into my morning martial arts routine.

Having studied Muay Thai and Shotokan Karate, I could have been an excellent fighter; however, I was never one to get into fights in the first place.

I stood on the hardwood floor and immediately started my black belt kata. This procedure helped suspend my mind and get my tired body into motion. It also helped to reduce the pressures of everyday student stressed that plagued us all.

I turned around to finish the kata and saw Ash sitting up, watching my every move.

"Your fighting patterns never cease to amaze me" he murmured, a sly half-grin creeping across his face "I could watch you forever"

"Take a picture…It lasts longer" I joked, slipping into bed next to him for a kiss.

"Are the oddballs up yet?" he asked, reaching under his pillow momentarily.

"Not that I know of" I replied, stifling a yawn "Jason loves to sleep in"

"Good" was his reply as he pulled out a small velvet box "That way, we won't entirely steal their thunder"

"Hey, it's our weekend too" I laughed, as he took my left hand. I saw a tiny flicker in his eyes as he looked at me and knew what was to come.

"Garnet" he said, somewhat serious, "We've been together for over a year now, and even then I couldn't imagine a better girl for me"

I didn't reply, just waited for him to finish his speech.


	4. What Happens Next

He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was of a Celtic good luck symbol on both sides, fastened together with a sparkling diamond.

"Will you be my princess and live with me happily ever after in my kingdom?"

Hell, I wasn't stupid!

"Of course" I said happily, watching as he slid the pretty white gold ring on my finger. I was incredibly touched at how he had honed in on my love for medieval fairy tales.

We kissed tenderly after that.

"Let Jason and Krista do what they want today" Ash said, the happiest I had ever seen him "We're spending the day in bed"

"What about my thesis?" I jokingly demanded of him.

"I better not see that laptop of yours turned on at all for the rest of the weekend! Got it?"

"Clear as mud, sweetheart" I replied, messing up his hair…

… Much later, I left a sleeping Ash in bed to go to the spare room to use my laptop. I decided to do some research on the book that he was so obsessed with.

I quickly logged onto the Internet and went to a search engine to begin my quest. After typing in the words "necromonicon ex mortis", I came across a University website dedicated to the subject.

There, on the main page was a link to see what was inside the Necromonicon. I immediately clicked on it and the Sumerian symbols and translations if a demon resurrection time warp incantation filled the screen.

I quickly turned the printer on and printed what I needed.

As the document was printing, I noticed a little excerpt on the bottom of the screen about the archaeologist Ash mentioned the night before.

I quickly turned everything off to study the papers and took out my book on Ancient Sumeria.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from your studies for long" said a familiar voice from the doorway.

I spun around to see Ash standing there, looking at me with an amused grin on his face.

"I was just researching something" I replied, as he crossed into the room.

"Checking something on the Necromonicon" he said, chuckling as his eyes roamed the freshly printed documents "And Jason thinks I'm obsessed"

"Just satisfying some curiosity" I explained, playfully punching his bare shoulder.

He looked at me, a sly smile creeping across his face.

"Let's go satisfy another curiosity, babe" he said, pulling me close "A more sexy curiosity"

"Sounds like a plan" I said, as he stroked my hair "Where's the wild bunch?"

"Who cares?" was all he said…

… As we lay in bed, wrapped in each other's arms, the cabin shook as lightning flashed outside. Being one who was never afraid of storms, I wanted nothing more than to crawl out of bed and watch everything going on outside. However, I felt safe and secure in Ash's arms and I didn't want to leave the warmth and comfort of being near him.

"Some storm, huh?" he said softly, gazing through the curtains "We'll probably walk into a mess of debris tomorrow"

"Meh" I said, shrugging "Jason can clean it up. The cabin in the forest was his idea"

"No shit" Ash said, clearing his throat "One would understand my hesitation to go to another cabin after everything that's happened to me. In the end, I agreed to go because I didn't want you to go alone…and the fact that Jason would make it into one of his "embarrassing Ash" stories that he likes to tell our co-workers"

"Well I'm happy you came" I said, kissing his bare chest "God only knows what could happen without you by my side"…


	5. What In Blazes!

… I awoke much later and decided to look out the window to see if the storm had blown over.

I quietly slipped out of bed and headed for the big window. Sunlight was trying to filter in through the tattered curtains.

When I parted the curtains to get a good look outside, I got quite the shock. What I saw made me fall to the floor in surprise.

I quickly scrambled to my feet and rushed to wake Ash from his peaceful sleep.

"Ash" I hissed, shaking him "Ash, wake up!"

He mumbled some sort of complaint and kept sleeping.

I was hell bent on waking Ash up, so I decided to jump on top of him, shaking him madly.

This time, he woke up.

"Garnet…HEY…Garnet!" he said, grabbing my insistent hands "Is something wrong?"

"If you consider opening the curtains to see that we're not in a forest anymore wrong, then HELL YES" I replied, wondering if I was hallucinating.

He looked at me rather oddly and let go of me.

"WHAT?"

"Go look for yourself" I exclaimed, pointing to the window "We are somewhere in a desert valley"

"Okay sweetheart" he relented, getting out of bed "I'll look…if everything's normal out there, I'm personally going to make sure that you take a LONG break from your thesis"

He moved to the window and pulled the curtains back, taking a peek for himself. He stood there for a long while making me feel that I was hallucinating.

But I wasn't hallucinating.

Ash finally turned away from the window, looking as stricken as I was.

"We are definitely in a desert" he said, slowly sitting down in disbelief "A desert valley with a forest of evergreen trees in the distance"

'No' I thought, realizing what was going on 'It can't be'

"The Necromonicon" I gasped, running into the study only in Ash's shirt.

When I reached the desk, my documents were nowhere to be seen. I screamed in frustration.

"What's with you?" I heard Jason laugh from behind me "Looking for these?"

I turned around to see him holding the papers.

"You didn't happen to read the words out loud, did you?"

"I did" he laughed, shaking his head "Bloody hard to pronounce but I managed to get it all"

I rushed out of the study and back into the bedroom where Ash remained sitting on the bed.

"Jason recited the incantation" I informed him, scared of the situation "I think we went back in time"

Ash looked at his artificial arm, and then at me.

"The disbelieving idiot recited the incantation you printed out" he summarized, looking pained.

"What are we gonna do?" I demanded, sitting next to him.

"We're gonna kill Jason for this" Ash said calmly, taking my hand.

We then heard a deafening scream from the main room.

Ash and I hastily got dressed and went into the main room, where Jason was trying to comfort Krista.

"What's going on?" Jason demanded, looking at all three of us weirdly "Why is everyone so panicky?"

Ash glared at Jason murderously before storming to the window.

"Tell me Jason" he said, through clenched teeth as he parted the curtains "Does any of this look familiar to you?"

Jason's wide-eyed reaction was priceless.

"Where did the forest go?" he asked confusedly.

"As far as I know" I explained "We went back in time"

"Back in time" Krista whimpered, here eyes getting wider "How?"

"Somebody decided to read an incantation from the Necromonicon. And That someone was you, Jason!"" Ash said, still glaring at Jason angrily.

"Now wait a minute!" Jason exclaimed, defending himself "How was I to know what it was?"

"It said so on the pages!" I shot back angrily "Why did you read them out loud?"

"I thought it had to do with your stupid thesis!"

"What are we gonna do?" Krista demanded, frightened "How are we gonna get back?"


	6. Ancient Sumeria

"Judging by the landscape, we're not in Medieval England" Ash replied, staring out the window "I don't recall seeing an evergreen forest in the distance where I was"

Then, it hit me. Evergreen forest…The legend of Gilgamesh.

"Mesopotamia" I said, staring out the window as well "We may very well be in Ancient Sumeria"

"The origins of the Necromonicon" Ash conceded, closing his eyes in anger "We might have to go do some exploring"

"No bloody fucking way" Jason countered, his arm around Krista "I'm staying put"

"Alright then, screwhead" Ash hissed, looking at Jason murderously again "I'll go by myself"

"No, Ash!" I exclaimed, grabbing his arm "I'm coming with you"

"No Garnet" he said, lovingly embracing me "I don't want anything to happen to you"

"I don't want you to go alone" I said, pleading with him "I want to go with you. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you"

Ash looked at me momentarily, stroking my hair before speaking again.

"Alright" he conceded, smiling "Let's go"…

… We walked for what seemed like miles through the trail from the cabin until we finally reached a clearing leading to what looked like a small, remote village.

"Look down there" I said, pointing to the village "Maybe they can tell us where we are!"

"I hope so" Ash replied, squeezing my hand "Hope they don't have a pit with spikes and deadites"

I shot him a questioning glance but continued on when he didn't elaborate.

We trudged down the trail, hand in hand, walking by what seemed to be farmland when we stopped again.

"Something tells me we can't go to the village in these clothes" Ash said, concerned.

My eyes fell on a nearby rock where someone left some garments to dry in the hot sun.

"These will do" I said, quickly undressing "We'll blend in better"

"HEY!" Ash exclaimed, grabbing a garment from the rock with the intention of covering me up as I changed "I don't want any primitives ogling my girl"

"Aren't you sweet" I said sarcastically, changing behind the garment he was holding "It was necessary"

He stuck his tongue out at me as he quickly changed into his garment. Soon, we both looked more like Sumerians.

After carefully hiding our clothes somewhere behind the rock, we made the rest of the way down the village. The dirt path was anything but comfortable as we avoided the sharp, tiny rocks, walking barefoot.

We entered the village, met with various sounds, sights and scents that surrounded us.

"Ugh" Ash groaned, making a face "Smells like shit"

We passed by a little hut, where a man was selling fruits and nuts. A shiver of excitement ran through me, knowing I was amidst a major historical period I've always wanted to visit.

"Look" I said, nudging Ash and pointing "There's a lady selling garments"

"Whoopdee doo" was all Ash could say "Another round of primitive screwheads"

"Hey!" I exclaimed indignantly "I study these people!"

"And ya do a great job, hun" he replied saucily, smiling at me.

"Asshole" I muttered, making him laugh.

We stopped near another hut, where a lady was selling clay pottery.

"Excuse me" I said in Sumerian, surprising Ash "Where are we?"

The woman's expression brightened a bit.

"You're a foreigner" she said, smiling "It would be the greatest pleasure to tell you that this is the village of Ninsun"

"Speak English!" Ash said impatiently, folding his arms over his chest.

"Castle Necro is up in the hills" she continued, growing serious "Many evil things come from there"

She pointed to a temple-like structure in the distance. I thanked her and we walked away.

"Ahmed, the Wiseman, will tell you all" were her parting words to me.

"Well?" Ash demanded impatiently.

"We're in Ninsun" I said, stopping to look at him "Castle Necro is in the hills and is full of evil things"

"Castle Necro" he repeated, rubbing his chin "I see"

Before either of us could move on, we were interrupted by an old man yelling.

"It's you!" he yelled, rushing up to us "It's really you!"


	7. The New Promised One

"What do you mean?" I asked him in Sumerian "Do you know us?"

"Follow me" was all he said before walking away.

"Stupid primitive" Ash muttered under his breath.

We ended up following the old man to a large hut filled with carved tablets, potions, and a bubbling cauldron.

"What the hell!" Ash exclaimed, looking around.

I examined the various vials that adorned the old man's table and many baskets.

"Sit over here" the man instructed, motioning for us to sit near him.

I slowly moved to the old man and sat down. Ash followed suit.

"I am Ahmed" he said, as I translated for Ash "I am the village Wiseman"

"How does he know us?" Ash demanded, tapping the fingers of his artificial hand against his knee impatiently. I translated for Ahmed.

"There is a prophecy made by the elders" he said, as I translated "A prophecy of a golden haired girl and her dark haired lover"

"Interesting" I murmured, not realizing what he was referring to until it hit me "Golden haired girl?"

Ash kept clamping down a grin, trying not to snicker.

"The promised one has a birthmark on the front of her left shoulder"

Ash stopped snickering as I finished translating that last sentence.

"Hey!" he exclaimed angrily "I'm the only one that knows about that!"

It was now my turn to snicker!

"You have the birthmark?" Ahmed asked me, rubbing his long beard.

I pulled back part of the garment to reveal the mole. Ahmed's expression brightened immensely.

"Merciful goddess!" Ahmed cried out "You will save us from the evil lurking in the clutches of Lord Ghoulok and Castle Necro"

"HEY! Get away from her" Ash exclaimed, trying to pull me away. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm no goddess" I told Ahmed sadly "I'm just a girl from the distant future trying to find a way home"

"It is prophecized that the promised one comes from the distant future" Ahmed insisted excitedly "I can have you transported home if you vanquish the evil"

"We need to get home now" I told him sharply, making Ash proud "Right away…Right–…"

I was interrupted by an extremely weird noise.

The three of us spun around to face a horrible looking creature with wrinkled skin, hooded eyes, and a mouth overflowing with viscous black goo.

"So you're the chosen one" it hissed eerily, its long hair flapping behind the shoulders "You will never stop Lord Ghoulok from his conquest"

"Yeeaagh" Ash screamed "Not you people again!"

"Ash" I said calmly, staring at the demon "Where's the Remington?"

Ash reached under his garment and pulled out his shotgun…The shotgun he carried everywhere.

My eyes fell on a machete-like knife resting on a nearby cushion.

"When I dive" I said, formulating a plan in my head "Shoot the thing"

I dove for the knife and Ash shot the demon six times. I quickly jumped to my feet with the machete in hand.

"Hey wrinkles" I challenged the demon "You want some?"

Hissing, the demon lunged at me. I took a swing and easily sliced the demon's head off.

I lowered the machete as the head and headless body hit the ground.

"You did it" Ahmed exclaimed happily "Only the promised one could kill so effortlessly"

"Whoa" Ash exclaimed, his beautiful dark eyes wide in amazement "You kick ass, baby"

Ahmed went to a corner of the hut and picked up a large item wrapped in cloth.

"We need to find our friends" I told Ahmed as he shuffled towards us.

"Take this with you" he said, unwrapping the cloth "You will need it for your journey"

In his hands was a huge sword in a leather sheath. I took the sword out.

The metal was shiny and looked new. I loved the golden handle and the markings on the blade itself.

"Thank you Ahmed" I said, fastening the sheath around my waist. I returned the sword to the sheath.

"Return alive" he said, nodding…


	8. Welcome Back to the Cabin

"Stupid Primitive" Ash muttered as we trudged back to the cabin "At least I ain't the Promised One this time"

"Shit happens" I said, shrugging "We need to find Jason and Krista"

"Remind me to never piss you off, baby" Ash said saucily "You could cut my balls off with that"

"Don't give me a reason to" I joked as the cabin came into view "Well…home sweet home"

We walked the rest of the way to the cabin's doorstep.

"Guys" I called out "We're back"

The cabin door opened and Krista stood in the doorway.

"Took you guys long enough" she teased us as we came inside "I was worried sick"

"Where's screwhead?" Ash demanded, flopping down on the couch.

"Nice dress, Ashley" Jason said, walking up to the couch "Get a sex change?"

"Kiss my boomstick" was Ash's reply.

"We met up with a wiseman" I said, gesturing to my new sword.

"Yeah" Ash laughed, "Garnet is the new promised one"

"Oh God" Jason groaned, rolling his eyes "Not that bullshit again!"

I unsheathed my sword and took a few swings.

"Holy Crap" Jason said uneasily "Watch where you point that thing!"

"Ash and I came back to get you two!" I said, returning the sword to its sheath "We'll be well-protected at Ahmed's hut"

"Protected from what?" Krista asked, looking concerned

"Deadites" Ash replied, sitting up "Nasty demon things"

"I killed one earlier" I said proudly, making Ash smile

"She's a fighter" Ash grinned "Makes me proud to call her my fiancée"

Jason and Krista exchanged confused looks. I held out my left hand, smiling broadly.

"You mean…" Jason started slowly

"As of this morning" I said, smiling at Ash.

"Oh my god" Krista squealed with delight "We're both going to be brides!"

"Way to steal thunder, Ash" Jason said, glaring at him.

"Go blow a deadite" Ash replied, standing up "In the meantime, go grab your stuff"

"We're all going to Ahmed's" I added, growing serious.

"But it's dark out" Jason whined, looking out the window.

"I guess he's right" I said, nodding "Isn't night the time when the deadites roam?"

"You catch on fast, babe" Ash replied, pulling me close "Now keep all the windows and doors locked tonight. We'll leave first thing in the morning"

With that, Ash pulled me to our bedroom, closing the door behind us.

"Gimme some sugar, baby" Ash said, grinning "Watching you off that deadite was a major turn on"

I gave him a kiss and proceeded to take off my sheath. I then hung my scabbard against the bedpost.

"I'm sorry I doubted the time travel" I said, slipping out of my tunic and into a t-shirt.

"No worries, babe" Ash replied, changing into his boxers as I slipped under the covers "Love ya no matter what"

He turned out the lights and slipped into bed beside me.

"This is all exciting for me" I said, in the darkness "I've always dreamed of seeing Ancient Sumeria. If we go on the quest to destroy the evil, it will be amazing!"

"I'm sure it will be" was Ash's reply as he rolled to the side, leaning on an elbow to face me "You're a regular chip off the old block, baby"

I leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"Y'know" he added, a hint of sorrow in his voice "I thought I would never find a special girl like you after Linda died"

"No worries, Ash" I said, as he pulled me close "I don't plan on going anywhere, unless it's with you"

We then lay there, wrapped in each other's arms, for the rest of the night…


	9. Back to Ahmed's Place

"You've got to be shitting me" Jason groaned "I'm not going to be wearing a dress!"

"It's not a dress" I insisted, handing him the crisp, white bed sheet "All the men wear these!"

Morning had come quickly and we were trying our best to convince Jason to wear a tunic. Me, Ash, and even Krista all wore one.

"Jason" Krista said sweetly "If you wear the tunic…--"

"You'll what" Jason interrupted stubbornly, folding his arms across his thickly muscled chest.

Krista flashed a mischievous grin and proceeded to whisper something in his ear. Jason's eyes widened and he eagerly grabbed the sheet from my hands. He quickly rushed into the bedroom to change.

"What did you tell him?" I asked Krista curiously. She flashed me an evil grin.

"I told him he'd have easier access" she replied, giggling as Jason entered the room in his make-shift tunic.

Ash took one look at Jason and fell out of the couch, laughing hard.

"I've seen better legs on a piano!" Ash chortled, banging the coffee table with his metal hand.

Jason started toward Ash, fury in his ice blue eyes.

"HEY!" Krista exclaimed, holding him back "They're our key to get home. Save the beatings for later!"

"Have we got everything?" Ash demanded impatiently "We gotta go back to Ahmed"

"What about our electronics equipment?" Krista asked, eyeing the big bags full of food and supplies.

"We can't take all that along" I replied, hoisting the bag over my shoulder "No way we'd ever be able to use it"

"Let's go" Ash said, hoisting the other bag over his shoulder "We have a lot of ground to cover"…

… "Holy fuck" Jason groaned as we trudged down the forest path we had taken the previous day "Barefoot was definitely a BAD idea!"

"Want some cheese with that whine?" Ash said sarcastically, sweating with the exertion of carrying his big bag in the hot sun.

"We're getting close" I said, seeing the village from the distance "Watch where you step"

"Blister city" Krista groaned, putting more effort into walking with us than Jason "Thank god we're not too far from the village"

"Did you take your texts on this place?" Jason impatiently demanded of me.

"Yeah" I replied irritably as we passed the same farm lands "Although we don't need them"

We made the rest of the way down to the village a short while later. By that time, Jason could barely walk. So much for Michigan State's best Linebacker!

"This is Ninsun" Ash said, as we entered the village "Full of primitive screwheads"

"Ash" I hissed, leading them to Ahmed's hut "Don't talk about them that way!"

Jason snickered before Krista slapped him upside the head.

The lady Ash and I had seen selling garments yesterday looked up at us and smiled.

"Promised one!" she called out to me "It would be my pleasure to give you as many garments as you need"

We had stopped by then and Jason gave a quizzical look to Krista.

"Will eight be alright?" I asked her "Two for each person?"

"It shall be done" she said, gesturing to the table "Take your pick!"

I relayed the message to the others and they each picked two garments. I selected two as well.

"Take them" she said happily "Free of charge for saving our village"

With garments and supplies in hand, the four of us reached Ahmed's hut.

"Well, whaddya know" Jason drawled, as we stepped inside the hut "This guy must be as crazy as you are, Ash"

"Kiss my boomstick" Ash said, setting his bag on the ground.

"Welcome back," Ahmed said brightly, bowing "I trust your journey was comfortable"


	10. To the Alchemist Ash will go

I relayed the translation as I set my bags down.

"I think my feet are cut" Krista said, sitting next to Jason on a nearby cushion.

"Let me see" Jason said, being Mr. Chivalrous for the moment.

With that, he examined her feet, which were cut indeed.

"Ahmed" I said tentatively "Do you have anything to put on wounds to help them heal?"

"But of course" he said, selecting a vial off of the table "This eucalyptus salve will heal the wounds in no time"

He handed the vial to me and I tossed it to Jason, who slathered the salve all over the cuts on Krista's feet.

"Mmm" she murmured, smiling "It feels so nice and cool. My feet don't hurt anymore"

"Well what are we gonna do?" Jason demanded, pulling Krista close "Religious chants?"

"We must all prepare for your journey" Ahmed said, pulling a pouch from his sash "I need you to fetch me some herbs and powders from the alchemist"

"We shall make a list" I agreed, reaching into my bag for pen and paper.

Ahmed watched me curiously, before I realized that he hadn't seen a ballpoint pen before.

"What is that strange tool?" he asked me curiously, rubbing his long beard.

"We call it a pen" I explained, handing it to him "We write on paper with it"

Ahmed took the cap off and curiously made a few scrawls on the paper.

"Buddy's never seen a pen before" Jason said loudly, rolling his eyes.

"Shut up, you asshole" Ash hissed, watching Ahmed laugh with delight.

"Simply marvelous" Ahmed exclaimed, making more scrawls on the sheet.

After making a few more scrawls, he and I started making the list. It was a very extensive list.

"You must go to the alchemist only for these ingredients" Ahmed said, as I wrote the last item down "If all else fails on your journey, magic will always be on your side if you use it properly"

I nodded, putting the pen down on the table. Ahmed handed me the pouch, which was full of Ancient Sumerian coinage.

"Ash" I said, as he stood up curiously "Come to the alchemist with me!"

"I'm there, babe" he said, immediately taking my hand.

"What about you guys?" I asked, clutching the list and the pouch of coins in the other hand.

"No can do" Krista replied, wincing at the mention of walking again "I'll stay here"

"I'm staying too" Jason quickly quipped before we even considered asking him.

"Let's just go" Ash said, impatiently tugging on my hand.

We walked out of the hut and headed into the village, which was suddenly quiet.

I looked at Ash questioningly before scanning the village with my eyes. All the villagers had assembled in a big group, surrounding someone sitting on a horse.

"Let's go check it out" I whispered to Ash, tugging at his arm "It could be important"

Before he could complain, I led him to the crowd of people. We filtered in, assembling ourselves near the front.

I took a look at our surprise guest, working hard to stifle the gasp coming out of my mouth. Sitting on a black horse was a man, or at least I think he was a man, who wore armor out of what looked like some kind of skin. His helmet was made out of two human skulls fused together with metal, both jaws open in a silent scream.

I also noticed the red, piercing eyes of our somewhat cannibalistic visitor as the two menacing guards stepped in front of him. Much like their lord, they seemed inhuman as well and wore armor made from skin. Their eyes had a strange yellow glow in the sunlight. Something told me that these guys were not normally messed with by the villagers, who seemed frightened of the three figures.


	11. The emergence of Lord Ghoulok

"Loyal citizens" the apparent warlord spoke in a smarmy voice "There have been talks amongst the whole lot of you about a promised one…a girl who will have the strength to defeat me"

"Lord Ghoulok" a man, obviously the village magistrate (or representative) said nervously "We have not seen this promised one you speak of. She may not even exist"

"Fat chance, pal" Ash muttered under his breath. A couple of villagers turned to give Ash looks that amounted up to "Shut up you stupid idiot"

"You fool!" Ghoulok spat out, aiming the blade of his sword against the magistrate. "She must exist. People have seen her…her and her one handed idiot lover"

"The only hand that counts, shit for brains" Ash muttered under his breath, glaring at Ghoulok murderously.

"I am still the ruler of this village" Ghoulok boomed, sheathing his sword "I will summon demons as I see fit. Nobody will dare to stand in my way!"

As he finished his speech, a deadite jumped into the crowd out of nowhere, spraying black goo everywhere.

"She's here" the demon hissed, searching the crowd "The promised one is among them. She is among them as we speak!"

'Shit' I thought, making a face 'Not now!'

Ash put his left hand on my shoulder sympathetically.

The deadite scanned the crowd again before Ghoulok interrupted quickly.

"That's enough" he said, unsheathing his sword and raising it "I'll deal with this promised one when the time is right!"

A few members of the crowd shifted nervously at the sight of his sword raised and his gleaming red eyes.

"As for you" he hissed, sheathing his sword "You impudent fools will be punished severely if I hear any more talk about your promised one. Nobody will prevent me from skinning you mortals for my book!"

With that, he kicked his heels and his horse galloped away. His henchmen quickly followed suit.

"Holy shit" Ash muttered, taking my hand and squeezing it "That guy is creepy! Did you see his eyes?"

"No time to worry about it" I said, shrugging it off "We have to get that stuff Ahmed wanted"


	12. Aftershock

"What took you guys so long?" Jason demanded as we walked into the hut afterward "Like, seriously! The alchemist's hut couldn't have been that far away from here"

Ash put the bag full of the alchemist's ingredients down with a sigh.

"We saw Mr. Fancypants Ghoulok" was his reply as Ahmed walked in.

I took this opportunity to ask Ahmed everything he knew about Ghoulok.

"Ahmed" I whispered as he picked up the bag for his requested items "Tell me everything you know about Ghoulok"

Ahmed set the stuff down so fast that I thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"There is so much to tell" Ahmed replied, setting himself down on a large cushion. "Would you like to translate for your friends? This will most definitely be a long tale to tell"

"I'll have them come over here" I said, images of Ghoulok flooding my subconscious "Ash definitely needs to know…he'll be making the journey with me…we never go anywhere without each other present" …

… Ahmed cleared his throat as we all sat around him on the cushions.

"This better be a good story" Jason grumbled, rolling his eyes as Krista sat against him. "We have better things to do"

"Like what?" Krista said, nudging him jokingly "We're not in Michigan anymore! We're not even in our own time. Just shut up and listen!"

"Listen to your girlfriend, Jason" Ash taunted, rolling his eyes "Flapping your mouth is more trouble than it's worth"

"Shhhhhh" I said, frowning at them "He's about to start"

"Ghoulok wasn't always the lord of this part of the lands" Ahmed started, a faraway look in his eyes as he rubbed his long beard "This village, named after Ninsun, the cow goddess and mother of our sacred hero Gilgamesh was once a prosperous place filled with lush lands, fruit orchards, and hordes of wild boar and sheep for eating. We were a community of people who lived under a great king who was fair and just. He always had a kind word for everyone and often made visits to our village to keep in touch with his people."

I translated Ahmed's words and I noticed that Ash had a thoughtful look on his ruggedly handsome face. Jason was looking away with that "I'm not interested look" he usually gave off when someone was talking about a subject that he was far from interested in. Krista hung onto every word I translated with keen interest.

"Then, one day, someone sent word to our kingdom that our neighboring region, Denubis, was under siege and fully annexed in just a fortnight. We heard that this mysterious army appeared out of nowhere at night and attacked when the people least expected it"

"I know where this is going" Ash said, putting his arms around me protectively.

"At first, we did not believe everything that was going on until the same situation happened to us. They attacked in the night when we were entirely defenseless, and when morning came, Lord Ghoulok appointed himself and had a public execution of our king and his family. It is not certain, but it has been said that he used their skin to make his armor."

"Ugh" Krista said, making a face "This is really gross…did we really need to know that?"

"Legend has it that Lord Ghoulok is the king of the Deadites and plans on turning every human being in the world into one of his lackeys. All who have been brave enough to oppose him have been skinned alive to make a book he plans to write so that he can consume the whole world with his kind of evil"

"Just when I thought things would get better, I find out that some screwhead wants to populate the planet with Deadites" Ash grumbled as I finished translating "I don't even know if the boomstick can handle it all"

"Shut up Ash" Jason grumbled, rolling his eyes "The world doesn't revolve around you and your fucking boomstick. It's your entire fault we're not in our time and I'm missing my football game"

"Oh man" Ash shot back "I wouldn't dream of making you miss your big fucking games, asshole. You should listen to yourself sometimes…I have never heard anyone whine as much as you have. As it is, it's your fault that we're in Ancient Sumeria. I'm not the one who read the damn words like the idiot you are"

"Shut up, both of you" Krista shrieked, jumping to her feet "You guys are so immature. All you two have done is bicker at each other. I'm sick of hearing it! And Ash, shut up about your god-given role as the Deadite killer because it's annoying. NOBODY FUCKING CARES"

"Promised one" Ahmed said, giving me a confused look "Why are they yelling at each other?"

"Don't worry about it" I replied, standing up "Jason and Krista have no idea how much danger they put themselves in. Jason read the demon resurrection time warp spell to bring us here"

"You and Krista are a bunch of whiny babies" Ash growled, jumping to his feet "If it weren't for Garnet and me, you two would have been Deadite fodder. Neither of you dumbasses will ever realize the threat going on. All you two care about is yourselves, so if you want to do things on your own, there's the fucking door"

"Fine by me" Jason yelled back, also jumping to his feet "We don't need you or your fucking boomstick. Let's get out of here, Krista"

"Wait" Krista said, hesitating, "Garnet, are you coming with us?"

I took one look at Ash before making my decision.

"No can do" I said, standing next to Ash "My place is with my man. If any of us are ever going to get back to our time, we have to go on our quest to help Ninsun. It's my destiny"

"Figured as much" Jason said angrily, taking Krista's arm "She's just as stupid as Ash. He has corrupted her with his shit and now she's like him. We don't need her either; after all, she's the one who got us into this mess with her belief in Ash"

"You know what, Jason?" I said, glaring at him "Go find Lord Ghoulok and talk the way you do to him. Maybe he'll take mercy on you and kill you quickly instead of skinning you alive."

"HOW DARE YOU" Krista screamed at me "I thought you were my friend. You can't talk to Jason like that"

I said nothing as Ash put his artificial hand on my shoulder. Ahmed still didn't understand what was going on.

"Let's go, Krista" Jason said, tugging at her arm impatiently "We'll be better off on our own. Let the idiots take care of their fellow idiots. Meanwhile, we can find a better way to get back to our time and back to Dearborn"

With that, they left the hut in a huff. Ahmed looked at me questioningly.

"They won't be coming back" I told him, shaking my head "They don't understand the dangers of the Deadites. There's no use in stopping them"…


	13. Strange Twist of Fate

"I surely hope they decide to come back" Ahmed said, staring out of the hut "The night time is not right to wander about in the woods outside of the village. Nobody really knows the true terrors of what lurks around Ninsun at night"

"There is nothing we can do" I said glumly to Ash, who was standing next to the doorway "If it weren't for Jason and his hot head, they wouldn't be wandering out there. That idiot will never know what he got us all into."

"It's his own fault" was all Ash could say, as he glanced at his mechanical hand "The bastard never believed a damn thing I ever said to him."

"His own ignorance and arrogance will cause his untimely death" I said to Ahmed, shaking my head, worried sick that something should happen to either of them…especially Krista "I fear for Krista more than he"

"There is no way either of you can just go out to look for them" Ahmed said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully "Lord Ghoulok lets his evil beasts roam about at night. We cannot sacrifice our Promised One to two unworthy fools"

"What are we going to do, Ash?" I demanded, unsure of what would happen next "Krista is in danger if she's around Jason. God only knows what could happen"

"Look, babe" Ash said, taking my hand "From past experience, I know that there's nothing we can do. I lost my sister and friends to this same shit. Krista and Jason are probably dead by now"

"It's only been 10 minutes" I said, somewhat hopeful "Maybe they will come back before something happens"

As if on cue, we heard a scream right outside the hut. It sounded like Krista.

"OH MY GOD" we heard Jason yell in disbelief "KRISTA! KRISTA, NO!"

Ash and I exchanged confused glances before rushing outside. I unsheathed my sword and Ash got his boomstick ready.

Right outside of the hut, we saw Jason on his knees as something flew over us, obviously holding a screaming Krista.

"LET ME GO" Krista screamed, thrashing about in the air as the carrion deadite made off with her. Jason stayed on his knees, screaming Krista's name over and over.

Ash slowly made his way to Jason and aimed the Remington at Jason's head.

"Jason" he said calmly, his finger on the hair trigger "Stand up slowly and don't move another muscle"

Jason obeyed, still shaken at Krista being carried off by the demon they had just encountered.

"Krista" he said, looking stricken "It took Krista"

He then fainted to the ground in utter shock…

… We carried Jason back to the hut and dumped water on him. He writhed momentarily before slowly opening his eyes.

"Where's Krista?" he asked weakly, making me want to hit him hard for letting his pride get in the way of us returning to our time.

"Ghoulok's creature took her" I said simply, tossing one of his garments at him "Are you happy now? Is this what you wanted?"

"We have to save Krista" Jason said sadly, oblivious of the venom in my tone of voice "We have to go save her before her skin is made into that book"

With that, he stood up quickly and grabbed the machete on the pillow where I had left it after my first encounter with deaditekind. He marched to the door, which Ash quickly blocked.

"Whoa pal" Ash said, taking the machete from his hands "You ain't going anywhere now, unless you want to be skinned alive by Ghoulok himself"

"We need to go save Krista" Jason said, pleading with us "I don't want anything to happen to her. Please"

"First thing's first" Ash said in reply "An apology for not believing me would be nice"

Jason lowered his eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry" he said quietly "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. You were right…and now…my precious Krista is in the clutches of a sick bastard who would use her skin for toilet paper. Krista is my heart and soul. I need her. I don't want her to die"

Ahmed, who was standing with us the whole time, cleared his throat.

"Krista's been taken by Ghoulok" I explained for him "Jason was just apologizing to Ash for not believing him"

"Arrogance is a deadly weapon against one's person at times" Ahmed replied, shaking his head "We must prepare for your quest"

I nodded, staring at Ash, who was busy smacking Jason upside the head with his artificial hand. Ahmed took out everything he needed from the bag.

"I will write the spells that go with these items so they will prove useful in times of need" Ahmed said, examining the vials "One thing you must remember is that you need to say each of the spells correctly for everything to work properly"

"I understand" I said, nodding "I will say each word to the letter"

With that, Ahmed took out a scroll from a nearby shelf and grabbed my ballpoint pen to begin scrawling down the spells necessary for the journey.

"I will write down the spell according to what I tell you to hold up" he said, ready to begin "I need you to hand me the dried up bat wings and wolfsbane"

I grabbed what he pointed at and handed it to him so he could write it down. The process continued for a long while until Ahmed finally rolled up the scroll and handed it to me.

"Use it and godspeed" he said, squeezing my wrist eerily "The lives of Ninsun depend on your success, Promised One"

Ash sauntered to the table as Ahmed let go of me.

"What's going on?" he asked, scratching his head "Are you guys finished?"

"It looks like we're ready to go" I said, tucking the scroll into my sheath "We shall leave by daybreak so we need to get some sleep"

"Yeah, then we can kick some serious deadite ass" he replied, putting a hand on my shoulder "But what are we gonna do about him?"

Ash jerked his chin in Jason's direction. I sighed.

"Only two options" I said reluctantly "Either he comes with us or he stays here"

"Well, we could use a lackey to carry our stuff" Ash said, grinning evilly, making me laugh.

"Alright" I said, winking "We'll have him come with us. I'm sure he wouldn't stay here with Ahmed long before following us"…


	14. The First Part of the Journey

We awoke at daybreak and set out for our journey. I estimated that our journey to Castle Necro would take the better part of two days, since it allowed us to rest and pitch camp to eat.

True to his word, Ash put Jason in charge of carrying and accounting for our food and supplies. For some strange reason, Jason didn't seem to mind at all. I guess he was just happy to help us save Krista and Sumeria.

"Alright guys" I said, as we stopped at the outskirts of the village towards the castle "This is it. We're going into uncharted and frightening territory; don't let your guard down"

"Some people are born carrying chainsaws, and some have chainsaws thrust upon them" Ash said, glancing at the castle in the distance "Our only hope is to get the Necromonicon. I remember the Wiseman from Lord Arthur and Lord Henry's kingdom told me that there is a passage there that could send us back to our time"

"And in the process, we have to save Krista" Jason pointed out, making sure we didn't forget her. "It is very important that we go find Krista"

"Cripes, Jason" Ash groaned, rolling his eyes "We remember"

I pulled out the map Ahmed had given me that morning, wishing us well.

"According to this map, we have to walk a little ways to the left until we meet a trail that leads to the castle" I said, looking at the drawings "We might encounter Deadites on the way"

"Fine by me" Ash said, patting his boomstick under his garment "I was born to kick Deadite ass"

"I just want this over with" Jason said quietly as I rolled up the map and stuck it in my garment.

"Let's go" I said, nodding with conviction…

… We finally stopped as the sun started to set. We had made good time in our travels and were tired and hungry from traveling through the dense evergreen forest all day.

"This looks like a good place to stop" I said, setting down my stuff "I don't think we should go much further"

"Sounds like a plan" Ash said, also setting his stuff down "We better start making a fire"

Being the dutiful one for once, Jason went out to search for firewood without so much as a word.

"Must have really hit him hard" Ash said quietly, as we watched him walk away from our spot "Maybe the primitive will understand what's going on now"

"Don't be so hard on the dork" I said, taking things out to make our tent "You'd be the exact same way if I were in Krista's situation"

Just then, we heard a petrified scream coming from the direction that Jason had taken off to. Unsheathing my sword, I ran in that direction, hoping that I could reach Jason in time.

Sure enough, I approached Jason in a small clearing, where he was trying feebly to fend off two Deadites who had ambushed him.

"Oh god" he screamed at the creatures "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"You know where the Promised one is" one hissed, spraying black goo in Jason's face "Take us to her"

"Ohhh" I heard Ash sigh from behind "One look at those nasty things and I know why some animals eat their young!!"

"Ash" I hissed, worried about our belongings "Get your ass back to camp. I can handle these two"

"Yes m'aam" Ash said sarcastically, slinking back "Be careful"

With a rustle of leaves announcing his departure, Ash slowly crept away.

I gripped my sword tightly as the other Deadite grabbed Jason by the throat.

"Where's your Promised one now?" it hissed at him, cackling evilly.

"Right here" I said, moving into the clearing "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"It's her" the demon hissed, dropping Jason onto the ground "It's really her…We have to report to Ghoulok to tell him that she is around"

"Not if I can help it" I said hotly, raising my sword for battle "Your Lord can shove himself into his own ass"

The Deadites mindlessly lunged at me, angered by my comment. I was ready for them.

I lunged at the closest one and took a swing, neatly severing the wrinkly head from its body. The head flew into nearby trees as the body fell to the ground, gushing black blood.

The surviving Deadite looked at its partner in horror before hissing and lunging at me.

"Awww" I said, mock-sympathetically whilst cocking my head "Are you upset that I killed your buddy first and not you?"

"Lord Ghoulok will enjoy eating your flesh" it said in reply before rushing forward. I took a hard baseball swing, severing the creature in half through the waist. Both parts fell to the ground as I scanned the area for Jason. I sheathed my sword, not bothering to clean off the Deadite goo from the blade.

Jason cowered near a tree in the clearing, frightened by everything happening.

"C'mon Jase" I said, helping him up "Let's go back to camp"

He slowly picked up the small amount of firewood he had started to gather and reluctantly followed me.

Ash was waiting patiently for us as we sauntered back to camp. While I was fighting off the Deadites, Ash had set up our tent. It must have been a relief for him to not have to fight for once.

"How did it go?" he asked, standing up quickly "Is screwhead okay?"

"Yeah" I sighed, watching Jason slowly arrange the wood to make us a fire "I think Ghoulok is going to be looking for me after all"

"So I take it that you got rid of the ugly fuckers" he commented, seemingly proud of me "It did feel nice not having to fight for once."

"Enjoy it while it lasts" I said, winking cockily at him. He winked back, giving me the thumbs-up with his mechanical hand.

"Do we have a lighter or something to light this wood?" Jason said, slowly facing us, seemingly stung by the closeness between Ash and me.

"Uh yeah" Ash said, reaching into one of the bags. He pulled out a small box of waterproof matches and tossed it to Jason, who lit one and tossed it at the wood. Within seconds, we had a nice fire going…


	15. In Continuation

We enjoyed a light supper of hot dogs (I know…ironic that we even had this stuff with us in ancient times, but it was handy) and then stretched out under the stars. Dusk was falling and I was already tired from the beginning of our journey, as well as my encounter with the two Deadites. I was beginning to understand everything that Ash went through before. He fought with the world on his shoulders.

Hell, killing those Deadites made me feel a new sense of appreciation for the way Ash felt about me. All that time, I thought he was just being paranoid and somewhat romantic. But now, especially with the situation we're fighting to escape, I realize that Ash didn't want me to fall into the same fate as Linda.

New thoughts fresh in mind, I moved closer to Ash, taking his arm. Jason had meanwhile retired to the tent, leaving us alone with just each other, and our private thoughts.

The full moon was rising, and the stars were just coming out. If there was anything that Ash and I both enjoyed, it was star-gazing. I can remember how the stars were like another world the both of us could escape to; Ash escaping from his everyday battle with Deadites and his job at S-Mart; Me with the everyday pressures of being a student. Life was just a never-ending battle for the both of us.

"It's been a while since we've done this" Ash said softly, gazing at the darkening sky. "Almost feels like an eternity"

"Yeah" I agreed, nodding "Do you think we'll be able to ever return to our time?"

"Absolutely" Ash said, pulling me close "When I went on the quest for the Necromonicon in Ancient England, the Wiseman used a page from the book to make this potion. I had to say those stupid words that I screwed up when I took it away from the graveyard. All we have to do is take the book from Ghoulok and then give it to Ahmed. He'll know what to do"

"I hope Krista is alright" I said, sighing "Jason's acting like a total vegetable. Ever since Ghoulok's carrion took her away, he's changed drastically"

"Ha" Ash snorted sarcastically "I think it's an improvement. He has been quiet the entire time. God he whined too damn much!"

"Please don't be that hard on him" I said, understanding how Jason was feeling, now that Krista was taken from us momentarily. "The abduction of Krista has left him torn apart inside."

"Alright" Ash relented, sighing "I'll lay off"…

… The next day, we started the journey again at dawn. Jason was in seemingly better spirits but remained quiet for the most part. I figured that we would need another day to reach the castle. Although we were in this ancient world under serious circumstances, I felt a thrill in knowing that we were in Ancient Sumeria and that we were making history…

**Castle Necro – The same day**

Lord Ghoulok stormed into his throne room, taking off his helmet. His red eyes shone unnaturally as two of his advisors bowed at his emergence. With his face visible, one could see that he looked exactly like Ash, chin and all.

"How is my book coming along?" Ghoulok growled, sitting in his throne "How much more skin do we need?"

"Master Ghoulok" the first advisor said, still bowing "We have enough skin and the book is being forged as we speak"

"Good" Ghoulok growled evilly, pleased with the progress "And what about our new prisoner?"

"She won't talk, sire" the other advisor said slowly "She refuses to acknowledge the existence of the promised one, however she did let slip that she is from the future"

"There are but two reasons for this" Ghoulok spat out, his red eyes blazing "Either she is protecting this promised one, or she is the promised one"

"I doubt she is the promised one, sire" the second advisor said, proffering a scroll to Ghoulok "The prophecy mentions a birthmark on her left shoulder…this girl…Krista…she has no birthmark there"

"Then she is protecting the promised one" Ghoulok conceded, staring at the drawings of the promised one, and the one handed lover who looked like him. He shoved the scroll back into the second advisor's waiting hands.

"There is a related matter to the book, sire" the first advisor said, proffering another scroll to Ghoulok. "We have finally finished making the design you requested"

Ghoulok took the scroll, studying the drawing. He liked the look of the book having a face locked in a silent scream.

"Excellent" Ghoulok said, handing the scroll back to the first advisor "Everything shall go as planned. Only two days until the seas will run red with blood, and that's when my book will be written!"

The throne room suddenly filled with Ghoulok's maniacal laughter…


	16. Closer to Castle Necro

… Morning arrived and I was the last one to wake up, which was rather odd.

"Look who's finally awake" Ash taunted, nudging me as I rubbed my eyes.

"Fuck off" I muttered, grabbing my sword and sheath. "You didn't kill any deadites last night"

"That's right, I didn't" Ash said, handing me a pop tart (gawd, but I loved how we brought our 21st century food with us) "You're the promised one, babe"

"Are we ready to go yet?" Jason whined, as I munched on my breakfast. I stole a glance at Jason, who looked ragged and basically dead. Ash looked at Jason as well.

"Is that your face or did your neck throw up?" Ash joked, laughing at Jason's disheveled appearance. Jason started towards him, fury in his eyes again.

"Ash, stop it" I said, rolling my eyes as I took the map out of my bag "We need to continue on"

Ash stuck his tongue out at Jason and picked up the heavy bag he carried. Jason flipped him the bird as he turned to face me.

"We need to follow the path through this forest and reach the bottom of the peak where Castle Necro is" I said, studying the map before rolling it and sticking it in my school bag.

"Let's go" Jason said impatiently…

… Ghoulok paced back and forth in his armory, waiting for the book to be forged. His dark brown hair gleamed in the firelight, but it would never match the gleam in his red eyes.

Two of his generals walked into the armory, hanging their heads and Ghoulok stopped pacing.

"Lord Ghoulok" the first general said, taking off his helmet "Two of our men didn't return from their journey last night"

"Confound it" Ghoulok spat out angrily "The promised one again. She's mocking us with her mere existence. She must be coming closer to the castle"

Before anyone could say another word, one of Ghoulok's servants came rushing up to him.

"Lord Ghoulok" the servant said, stopping in front of him "The book has been forged. It is ready to be inscribed."

"Excellent" Ghoulok said, pleased that something positive was happening that day…

… We finally reached a clearing after trudging through the evergreen forest. As we walked, I looked all around, remembering the stories of Gilgamesh roaming around this very place.

Ash noticed my quietness with silent humor.

"Hey, Garnet" he said, as we stopped to look at the map "What were you thinking of when we cleared the forest?"

"I was thinking of Gilgamesh" I said, wistfully remembering my studies "You have no idea how much being in Sumeria means to me"

"Oh I have some idea" Ash said, smirking "But you now understand what I went through. That means more to me"

"Will you stop the lovey dovey talk and read the fucking map?" Jason demanded, irritated "By the time you guys finish, Krista will be skinned!"

"Calm down" Ash said, flipping Jason the middle finger of his mechanical hand "We'll rescue her in no time"

"Well hurry the fuck up!" Jason rolled his eyes, still irritated.

I rolled out the map and took a look.

"It looks like we might reach the castle by nightfall" I said, staring at the high sun "The bottom of the peak is over there"

I pointed to a big peak a short walk away from us.

"Can we go now?" Jason whined, stamping his foot like a boy having a temper tantrum "I want to save Krista"…

**Castle Necro- Dungeon**

She felt the warm, inviting heat of a nearby fire. It was like the comforting hand of her mother when she was sick as a child. Her eyes felt like they've been glued with some cheap nail glue. Her lips were cracked and dry and her mouth tasted dry…of sand and deserts.

Krista stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She instantly became alert and slowly pushed herself up in a sitting position as she recognized the room she was in. The dungeon…she was still in Castle Necro with that flesh eating fiend who could have been Ash's identical twin.

'Fuck' she thought, slowly standing up as she remembered the interrogation she had the night before 'I can't believe this happened to me. I should have listened to Ash and Garnet. This is Jason's fault'

She unconsciously rubbed her swollen left cheek as she remembered how one of Ghoulok's henchmen backhanded her when she told them that she wasn't the promised one. Anger swelled up inside her as she swallowed her urge to scream in anger.

"This is Jason's fault" she said, through clenched teeth "If he wasn't such an asshole to Ash, I wouldn't be here"

With an angry cry, she clenched her fist and punched the wooden door holding her hostage…


	17. Climbing the Peak

We slowly trudged up the steep mountain path, carefully making sure that each step counted…and that nobody slipped.

"I wish I had a camera" I said, gazing at the landscape as we walked up the path "This is so awesome"

"Will you focus on the fucking task at hand?" Jason snapped, rolling his eyes "It's no wonder why you couldn't find a boyfriend before we introduced you to Ash"

"Pipe down, screwhead" Ash said, his hands reaching for his shotgun "or I'll carry you there in pieces"

Jason shut his mouth quickly, leaving me to snicker.

"Well put, Ash" I said, smirking at him. He flashed his trademark smirk and we continued on our way.

"Are we getting there y---" Jason said, before he was interrupted. Three deadites came out of nowhere, blocking our path.

I unsheathed my sword and Ash loaded his shotgun with more shells.

"Open up and say ahhhhhhh, ugly" Ash said, firing at the deadites.

"I will swallow your soul" one of the deadites hissed, stupidly coming closer to me "You will never stop Lord Ghoulok from creating the Necromonicon"

"Oh yeah?" I challenged the deadite, smirking "Try and stop me, ugly"

I rushed at the deadite with a baseball swing, severing the top half of its body from the lower half.

"Holy crap" Jason yelled as another deadite stalked towards him "A little help here!"

Ash spun around as I decapitated the second deadite.

"Hey ugly" he screamed, aiming the shotgun at the deadite "I got something that'll clear that right up"

The deadite hissed, rushing towards him. Ash shot the deadite three times before I rushed in and slashed it to pieces, spraying black goo everywhere…mostly all over Jason.

"Could you be any messier when you do that?" Jason groaned, wiping the goo off of his face.

"Kiss my boomstick" Ash replied, smirking at him "We saved your sorry ass"

After a few more moments of grumbling from Jason, we continued on our journey…

… Krista stood in the dungeon, looking around for a way to escape. She was sure that there had to be a spot somewhere. It wasn't like the prisons of the modern world.

'Damnit' she thought, pursing her lips as her eyes scanned the room 'There has to be some kind of a way out.'

Then, her eyes fell on an area right next to her bed. She could see light peeking into it.

'Excellent' she thought, relieved 'I can finally make my way out of here and find the others'

She scanned the hole and found that the wall was crumbling from that specific corner. All she needed was some kind of utensil to dig herself out.

"Perfect" she said to herself, smiling, despite the tenderness of swollen left cheek "I'll just wait for the guard to bring me my supper gruel and I'll dig out of here"

Krista stood there, smiling at her sudden bravado. She was never the resourceful one, nor was she the fearless one. Those were two qualities Garnet had. She was also proud of the fact that she was surviving without Jason around. She felt a newfound sense of self-worth that she had never felt before…

… The sun was beginning to set as we reached a small clearing on the peak. Jason was ready to rest (fucking hypocrite he was) and didn't want to press on. Ash half-heartedly agreed so we decided to rest for a little while and make our way up to the castle when we were refreshed.

"Man" Jason said, stretching out his legs "It feels good to rest…My feet are killing me"

"Want some more cheese with that whine, screwhead?" Ash replied, rolling his eyes "You didn't help us out with the deadites"

Jason was about to reply when the three of us saw a flash of lightning above us.

"Holy shit" I said, as the lightning traveled across the sky "What is that?"…


	18. Castle Necro

... "Lord Ghoulok" the main advisor said, bowing "The preparations are ready for you to write the book. As we speak, it is raining blood"

"Excellent" Ghoulok replied, an evil smile creeping across his face as he stood up from his throne "Soon, all mankind will be consumed by my people!"

With that, the armory filled with his maniacal laughter until something else came to mind.

"Bring me our prisoner" Ghoulok said, smiling cruelly "I would like to talk to her about her friend, the so-called promised one"…

… Krista slowly picked up the utensil and inched forward to the hole in the wall. This was her time to escape.

A sudden crack of thunder made her jump back in fear, but she shrugged it off and resumed her plan.

Before she could even reach the hole, she heard the clanking of armor and jumped onto her cot before she could be caught. A key turned in the lock and a general burst in.

"You" he spat at Krista "Lord Ghoulok would like you to grace him with your presence"

"What does the fucker want with me now?" Krista yelled back at him "I am not the promised one"

The general grabbed her roughly and dragged her out of the room, kicking and screaming…

… We rushed to finish climbing the peak when the rain started to fall. It seemed innocent at first and the coolness of the rain felt welcome to our tired bodies. But when Jason got a good look at the rain on his hands, he screamed.

"HOLY SHIT!!" he yelled, frantically wiping his hand on his red-streaked garment "It's raining blood!"

"Oh my god" Ash said quietly, looking at the red raindrops falling from his gauntlet hand "It's beginning. They're writing the book"

"Let's hurry up and get to the castle" I said, fearing for Krista's life "Something might be happening to Krista"

Ash and Jason didn't need me to tell them twice, we ran as fast as we could to Castle Necro, which started looming in front of us.

As soon as I got a good look at the front of the castle, I stopped. Ash stopped as well.

"What is the fucking holdup?" Jason demanded as he stopped behind us "We have to save Krista"

He then saw what Ash and I had seen already. The front of the castle was crawling with deadites.

"We need a plan" I said, unsheathing my sword. Ash nodded and Jason remained silent.

"I still have some dynamite left over" Ash said, rubbing his chin with his mechanical hand "It might prove useful"

"Yes" I agreed, thinking of our options "An explosion would get rid of them…but then Ghoulok would be aware of us. We need to add more finesse to this plan"

Then, out of the blue, Jason surprised us.

"I'll go up to them and let them capture me" he said, thinking of Krista "That way, everyone will be distracted and I can find Krista before it's too late"

"My god" Ash said incredulously "The primitive has a good idea. Lemme call Connie Chung and Barbara Walters for interviews"

I shot Ash a dirty look as I pondered Jason's suggestion.

"You know what?" I said to Jason "This will work. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Look" Jason said, making me have a lot of respect for him and the way he felt about Krista "It's the only way I can find Krista and make sure she's alright"

"Well" I said, taking the bag he carried away from him "Go get 'em, Tiger. Pretend that they're from Florida State"

"Will do" he said, giving me a half-smile before walking on to the army of deadites.

"Well hello, Mr. Fancypants" Ash murmured as we watched Jason approach the castle.

I said nothing, making sure that Jason's plan would work.

"Look" we heard one of the deadites hiss "It's one of the humans that traveled with the promised one!"

"Where is Krista?" we heard Jason demand, his voice unfaltering.

"We'll take you to her" another deadite hissed, taking his arm roughly "After you talk to Lord Ghoulok"…


	19. Jason Joins Krista

**Castle Necro: Ghoulok's Throne Room**

The deadite guards dragged Jason through the halls of Castle Necro. He played the part of the good prisoner, hoping he'd see Krista.

He was suddenly pushed in a room, where firelight flickered from torches hung on the wall. Everything had an eerie orange glow.

'This is it' Jason thought, swallowing the fear building into his throat 'I hope Krista is alright'

"Lord Ghoulok" the deadite holding Jason by the shoulders hissed "We have another prisoner from the Promised One's gauntlet"

Jason looked around the room and saw Krista chained to the throne. She looked worse for the wear. Her garment was streaked with dirt and blood, and there were gashes on her shoulders from when she was carried off. But it was the scowl on his face that jolted him the most.

"Excellent" Ghoulok said, smiling evilly. Jason raised his eyes to see this Lord Ghoulok and was shocked to see that Ghoulok could be Ash's twin.

"Holy shit" Jason yelled, his eyes wide in confusion "You look just like Ash"

"ENOUGH" yelled Ghoulok, his red eyes blazing "Where is the promised one?"

"I…I don't know" Jason stammered, as his gaze shifted to a scowling Krista "I went up here on my own. They didn't come with me"

"Is this true?" Ghoulok asked Jason's captors "Did he come alone?"

"Yes, my lord" hissed the other deadite "He stupidly walked right into us"

"Well, my dear" Ghoulok said, turning to face Krista "Do you know this one"

"Yes" Krista said, with hidden anger in her eyes as she glared at Jason "He is my betrothed"

Jason winced at Krista's tone when she pronounced betrothed.

"Well then" Ghoulok said, his eyes glittering evilly "I'll let you two catch up on old times, then"

With that, Ghoulok motioned for his guards to take Krista and Jason to the dungeon. The first guard unlocked Krista's chains and led her next to Jason.

"Krista" Jason said, relief washing over him "I missed you baby. Are you alright?"

Krista scowled as she took one look at Jason. Jason barely had time to react before she spat on his face and punched him.

"Ooooh" Ghoulok said, enjoying the taste of Krista's rage "She's not the waif I expected her to be"

Jason stood up to face his fiancée.

"What the fuck was that for?" Jason hissed, glaring at her "I'm not the enemy here!"

"It's your fault I got captured in the first place, you selfish bastard" she hissed back, as the guard restrained her. "I've been through hell these past days because of you. We should have listened to Ash and Garnet"

The guards then led them through the halls.

"I know" Jason said, hanging his head in shame "I know we should have. You have no idea how bad I feel about that"

They stopped in front of the dungeon doors after momentary silence.

"Here we are, love birds" one of the deadite guards hissed "Enjoy your honeymoon!"

With that, Jason and Krista were thrown into the dungeon.

"Do you have any idea of why I got captured?" Jason asked Krista pointedly, rubbing his sore jaw.

"I don't want to know" Krista said "Probably because you want to fuck me again"

"That's not true" Jason insisted, his voice dropping to a whisper "I did it because Garnet and Ash are on their way to siege the castle. They're coming as we speak"

"Really?" Krista asked, looking at Jason seriously "Are they coming?"

Jason nodded, a smile crossing his lips.

"Good" Krista said, starting to pace around the room "Then I won't have to worry about a plan of escape."…


	20. The Possession Spells

… "How are we gonna get in?" Ash asked, as we watched the empty area where the deadites left to take Jason inside.

I subconsciously reached for my sword when it hit me.

"The spells" I said, suddenly remembering the papers Ahmed gave me "We can use the spells"

"That's right" Ash said, nodding in agreement "Is there a disguising spell?"

I took out the various pages scrawled with symbols on them and searched for a disguising spell. The closest I could find was a spell to possess a deadite.

"We can use this spell" I said, handing it to Ash "If we each possess a deadite, we can infiltrate the castle"

Ash remained silent, staring at his mechanical hand. I knew what he was thinking of.

"Ash, it only possesses a deadite" I said, chiding him "Not becoming one…No permanent effects"

"Fine" he relented, breaking his silence "But if I turn on you, don't hold it against me. You know how much I love you"

"No worries babe" I said, reassuring him "We're going to get into that Castle and get that book…and kick some deadite as in the process"

Ash flashed me a half-smile and I stood my ground, ready to say the words. He grabbed our bags and braced himself. The rain was still pelting us, and the droplets put read streaks on the sheet. I took a deep breath.

"Kunda, Astrata, Candar, Khoru, Kari, Khara" I chanted, as the blood fell from the sky.

Green lightning flashed, and the ground shook as I repeated the chant again. Then, the lightning came to the ground and enveloped us.

Soon, the both of us stood on the ground. Everything seemed a little different to me…I felt as if I were off-balance. I turned around to face Ash to see if it had worked. It did work.

Ash the deadite took one look at me.

"Ohhh man" I heard him hiss "I hope this works"

With our stuff in tow, we walked to the castle in deadite fashion. Much to my relief, there were no deadites at the open gate.

"Let's roll" I said, leading Ash inside "We need to find Krista and Jason"

We slowly trudged down the eerily lit halls, in search of where there could be possible dungeons and holding cells. The hallways were long and full of doors.

"This sucks" Ash grumbled, as we stopped momentarily "It could be behind any of these doors"

"We just need to use the powers of deduction" I said, trying to think logically in my deadite body. "Maybe there's a locator spell---"

"YOU THERE!!!" yelled a voice from behind us. Ash and I turned around to see another deadite approaching us.

I was dumbfounded…we were caught…we were possibly done for!!!

"What are you idiots doing" the deadite hissed, spraying black goo all over us "Ghoulok wants us in the courtyard for the writing of the book!"

Maybe we weren't done for after all.

"He told us to check on the prisoners" I said, trying my best to be convincing "We will be out shortly…"

"Well" the deadite hissed, cocking its head "You're going the wrong way. The dungeon to the stairs is over there"

The thing pointed to an open doorway not too far from us. Ash remained silent.

"See that you bring them to the ceremony" the deadite hissed, turning to walk away "You know Lord Ghoulok doesn't tolerate failure…Hail to the king"

With that, the deadite slunk away to the courtyard entrance, leaving me and Ash to go to the dungeon.

"Yeah" Ash said, shaking his deadite head "Hail to the king, baby"

"Let's go" I said, grabbing his arm. He grabbed one of the torches lighting the doorway and we made it down the stairs.

"As soon as we reach the dungeon" I said, as we rushed down the stairs "We turn human again"

"Groovy" Ash said, as we descended down the last few steps.

We stood at the foot of the stairs, the dungeon looming before us. I held my breath, scanning around for any guard deadites. Ash and I were the only ones in the area. I then looked around for keys. The keys were hanging on a hook by the dungeon doors.

"Okay" I hissed to Ash "It's time for us to turn back"

I took a deep breath and recited the words.

"Klattu, verata, nichtu" I chanted, the green lightning enveloping us again. After a few flashes, Ash and I each broke out of our host deadite bodies.

Ash landed first, his boomstick in the harness, and both bags in each hand.

"Groovy" he said again, extremely happy to be human again.

I landed second, my sheath bouncing against my leg.

"Cool" I said, admiring our handiwork "Let's grab the keys"

I reached up to the hook and grabbed the dungeon keys. I then headed toward the lock on the dungeon door.

As I went to unlock the dungeon door, Ash loaded up his boomstick with rifle shells before reaching into his bag to take out his chainsaw hand.

It was only a matter of time before the lock fell to the ground and the door opened.

I went in slowly…cautiously…hoping that Krista and Jason were alright. Before I could do anything else, something landed on top of me as soon as I crossed the threshold.


	21. Prelude to an Assault

"Alright, deadite" I groaned, unsheathing my sword as I lay there "Let's dance"

"Holy crap" said a familiar voice on top of me "Watch where you point that thing"

"Get off me you asshole" I yelled at Jason "Ash and I are here to save you and Krista."

"Garnet" I heard Krista say as Jason got off of me "I am so glad to see you"

"What's going on?" Ash demanded, walking into the room, fully loaded and ready to kick deadite ass.

"Just a misunderstanding" I said, slowly standing up "Everyone's fine"

I faced Krista to see how she was. Much to my relief, she only had a few minor bruises and a vaguely swollen cheek. I hugged her gratefully.

"Thank god" I said, as we embraced "I was worried about you"

"How did you guys get in here?" Jason asked incredulously, scratching his head "The place is crawling with these monsters.

"We used a deadite possession spell that Ahmed gave us" I said, sheathing my sword "It worked, but we might have to use it again"

"Not again" Ash groaned, rolling his eyes "You know how much I hated it"

"The place is crawling with deadites, remember?" I said, reminding him of what Jason just said "Plus, Ghoulok is expecting us to bring our so-called prisoners to the book writing"

"Uhh Ash" Jason said, unsure of how he should say what he was going to "There's something you should know about Ghoulok"

"What is it?" Ash demanded, seemingly irritated

"He's your evil clone" Krista said, looking away momentarily before looking him straight in the eye "Both Jason and I have seen it"

The color drained from Ash's face faster than anything I had ever seen.

"Ash, are you okay?" I asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. He just sighed.

"And" Jason said slowly, looking very uncomfortable "I'm sorry for not believing you, Ash. I thought you were nuts"

Ash said nothing, just stared off into space for a while before speaking again.

"Let's kill these deadites" he said, raising his chin like he was Napoleon Bonaparte "Deadites…Ghoulok…come get some"…

… Ash and I trudged through the halls behind Jason and Krista. We used the possession spell to become deadites once again, and made our friends the prisoners.

We heard the thunder crashing as we approached the entrance to the courtyard. The blood rain was still falling as we walked outside, where all of the deadites stood in front of a ceremonial altar.

Before we went out of the dungeon, Ash and I pored over our spell collection for any useful chants to help us out. Having a photographic memory, I quickly and easily memorized the spells.

We slowly trudged through the courtyard to where Ghoulok stood with his helmet off. Two advisors stood next to him on one side, and two guards stood on the other side.

I took a good look at Ghoulok and shuddered at how much he resembled my fiancé. The similarities were uncanny. I could hear Ash as he gasped at the sight of his evil clone.

"Jason was right" Ash said, leaning in to hiss in my ear "This is my evil clone"

"Let's do this" I said, hissing back "We need the book"

We moved up to the altar slowly…slowly until we were face to face with Ghoulok himself.

"Lord Ghoulok" I hissed, pushing Jason forward as Ash pushed Krista forward "Here are the prisoners"

"Excellent" Ghoulok said, smiling evilly "The book writing shall begin!!"

I glanced at the top of the altar to see the Necromonicon in front of Ghoulok. Although it was opened to the first page, I could see the skin that bound the book together.

Ghoulok's eyes shone a blood red as he reached for the chalice that was filled with the blood rain. In one hand, he held what looked like the stem of a feather. He grabbed the chalice with the other hand.

"Let it be proclaimed that all mankind will be consumed by this evil" Ghoulok proclaimed, raising the chalice and the stem for all to see. "MARDUK…take the prisoners away"

One of Ghoulok's goon guards, stepped forward and walked to Krista and Jason.

"Do you have any last words to say before I begin?" Ghoulok demanded of Krista and Jason.

"Yeah" Jason yelled, flipping him the middle finger "Go to hell you ugly bastard!!!"

Ash growled, knowing it was meant to insult him too.

"What about you, my dear?" Ghoulok said, turning to Krista "Any last words?"

"Yeah" Krista answered back, smiling smugly "The promised one is coming and she's gonna kick your undead ass"

Without warning, Ghoulok burst into his maniacal laughter as Krista and Jason were taken away.

"It's now or never, baby" Ash said, leaning in to speak in my ear again.

"Wait" I said in reply "He's expecting it now…let him finish the book…on my command, we attack"…


	22. The Necromonicon

… After what seemed like forever, Ash and I stood there by the altar, still as deadites as we watched Ghoulok write the final entry in the book. As he finished writing, the blood rain stopped, and the night sky cleared up.

"IT IS DONE!!" Ghoulok proclaimed, standing up to thrust his fists in the air victoriously "The book is written!"

All of the deadites except Ash and yours truly cheered with moans and groans. I kept my eyes on the book as Ghoulok closed it and picked it up. I could sense Ash getting antsy. I knew he wanted to do some serious damage with his boomstick.

"And to think" Ghoulok boomed, smiling in a sadistic manner "That the idiots of Ninsun believed that their promised one would save them. There's nobody to save them now!"

The sword at my side started burning with unnatural heat. I knew it was time.

"You're wrong, Lord Ghoulok" I hissed, slowly moving forward "You're very wrong"

"WHO DARES QUESTION ME??" Ghoulok demanded angrily, shaking his fist at me "There is no promised one!!!!"

"Klattu, Verata, Nichtu" I chanted, breaking out of the deadite host's body. In midair, I reached for the book, still in Ghoulok's hands and easily grabbed it. I landed on top of the ledge behind him, unsheathing my sword.

Ash broke out of his deadite host body and revved up his chainsaw as he took his boomstick out of the back holster.

The deadites started to swarm him but stupidly stopped as they saw what he looked like.

"Give me back my book!" Ghoulok screamed as I jumped in front of him, at a safe distance. "WHO ARE YOU??"

"Haven't you heard?" I said smugly, cocking my head as I looked at him with a raised sword "I'm the promised one"

"GET HER" Ghoulok roared, lunging forward at me. I dodged out of the way easily and landed on the ledge again.

"Candar, Udantar, Mustra" I chanted, making balls of flame fall from the sky. I could hear the shrieks of the deadites as it fell on them. Ash reached out with a stick of dynamite, and after lighting it from a nearby fireball, tossed it at the deadites crowding around him before running away.

Ash barely had time to hit the ground before the group of deadites exploded. Various body parts fell out of the sky

"Hell yeah!" Ash yelled, as he slowly stood up. A few deadites remained in the area.

"Do you think that your pitiful magic will stop me?" Ghoulok scoffed, unsheathing his sword slowly "I am the undisputed lord of the dead"

"Yeah" I replied, smirking at him as I held the Necromonicon close "But you will soon be the disposed lord of the dead when I'm through with you, skeleton breath"

"GARNET" Ash yelled, as he shot a couple of deadites with his boomstick "Go to the dungeon and get Jason and Krista. I'll hold off Ghoulok for as long as I can"

"Will do" I said, nodding as Ash used his chainsaw to destroy the two remaining deadites. I rushed over to him.

"But first" he said, flashing me that all-too-familiar grin "Gimme some sugar, baby"

I smiled and we kissed tenderly before pulling away.

"Taltros, Khori, Khara" I chanted, teleporting away from the courtyard.

I then found myself at the foot of the stairs leading to the dungeon, ready to save Jason and Krista. The deadite guard stood in front of me with his back turned.

"Hey ugly" I called, raising my sword "Come get some"

The guard turned slowly to face me.

"We are what were and will be again" it hissed, lunging at me "You will lose"

I took a swing with the sword, lopping off the deadite's right arm. It landed behind me as the deadite landed on the ground.

"You will never defeat Lord Ghoulok" it hissed again, stupidly running towards me. I took a baseball swing and decapitated the deadite before swinging down and cutting it in half effortlessly.

"You talk too much" I said, eyeing the fallen pieces as they fell to the ground. I grabbed the keys and unlocked the door.

"Guys" I yelled, walking inside "GUYS!!! Come on! We have to get out of here"

"Ehh we have a problem" Jason said, his head hung low as he gestured toward Krista, who had her back turned.

"What do you mean?" I demanded, still holding the Necromonicon close "We killed all the deadites"

"Not all" I heard Krista say as she slowly turned around to face me. My eyes widened at the sight of Krista as a deadite. I knew Jason had to get away from her.

"Jason, get up" I said sharply, remaining in the doorway "She's going to kill you. We have to get out of here"

"I'm afraid I can't do that" Jason said, slowly raising his head. My eyes widened again at Jason as a deadite.

"No!!!" I screamed in frustration "THIS CAN'T BE!!!"

"Oh it can" Jason said, his mouth overflowing with black goo "And it will be"

I stood there in disbelief as they both headed towards me.

"Fuck that" I said, glaring at the both of them "You guys are going down"

"Give us the book" Jason hissed, coming for me.

"Come and get me" I taunted before chanting the teleportation spell again "Taltros, Khori, Khara"…


	23. The Final Battle

I teleported back to the courtyard just in time to see Ash's fight with Ghoulok. I stood there, transfixed as Ash fought with him, sword to chainsaw. But, I could tell that Ghoulok was far stronger than Ash was. He was overpowering him.

"Give it up" Ghoulok spat at Ash, who was down on the ground, seemingly in pain "The promised one and the book will be mine"

"You'll never have the book" Ash growled, slowly getting up with help from his boomstick "And you'll never have Garnet"

"HEY, GHOULOK" I yelled, running towards them "It's me you want, not him. Come and get me, fucker"

"So she returns" Ghoulok said, grabbing Ash by the neck "I take it you found my nasty surprise"

"You motherfucker" I said menacingly, raising my sword "You possessed my friends. You attacked my fiancé. Now it's time for you to pay"

"Oh really" Ghoulok said, tossing Ash aside like a rag doll as he advanced on me "And what makes you think you'll win?"

"I am the promised one, remember??" I said smugly, twirling my sword expertly "I am the only one that can defeat your sorry ass"

"Nooo" Ash yelled as he slowly got up off of the ground with his back turned to Ghoulok "Leave her alone"

Ghoulok pulled out a dagger from his belt and hurled it at Ash. Much to my horror, it lodged itself in Ash's back.

"NO!!" I screamed as Ash collapsed on the ground, his blood pooling out of the wound.

"Time to admit defeat" Ghoulok said, raising his sword as he advanced on me again "You will never defeat me"

"Watch me" I said, raising my sword angrily .

He thrust his sword at me and I blocked it as quickly as I could. Even with my prowess in martial arts, I could feel how powerful Ghoulok was. He was inhumanly strong.

"Give it up" Ghoulok sneered, pulling away before thrusting again. I screamed as the blade slashed my left arm. He pulled away again.

I looked at the gash on my arm and then back at Ghoulok before I felt the rage fill inside of me. First he had Krista kidnapped. Then he possessed Krista and Jason. He then mortally injured Ash. I had had enough.

Yelling a shrill war cry, I charged at Ghoulok, swinging hard at his shoulder. I must have surprised him with my attack, because his left arm flew off.

Ghoulok stared down at the stump where his arm used to be, in disbelief. He was obviously not used to having anyone able to match his strength. Feeling momentary satisfaction, I moved back slowly.

"You wench" Ghoulok roared at me, turning to look at me, hate in his eyes "I will feast upon your flesh for this"

"Not if I can help it" a voice said from behind him. Much to my chagrin, Ash stood behind Ghoulok, revving up his chainsaw. The dagger jutted awkwardly out of his back as he raised the chainsaw in the air.

He lowered the chainsaw, letting the blade chew into Ghoulok's right shoulder. Soon, Ghoulok's right arm fell to the ground, still holding the sword.

"Ash!" I exclaimed gratefully, happy to see that he wasn't dying.

"I'm back, baby" he said in his usual cocky manner "Finish him off"

I raised my sword and prepared to strike when two pairs of hands grabbed me. It could only be two people that I knew of.

"You will die" deadite Krista hissed, leaning down to bite my shoulder.

"ASH" I screamed, trying to wrench out of Krista and Jason's grasp "HELP ME!"

"I GOT IT" deadite Jason exclaimed, prying the book out of my hand "I have the Necromonicon, Lord Ghoulok"

"Excellent" Lord Ghoulok said, despite the fact that he had no arms "Finish them off"

Ash re-loaded his boomstick and aimed it in my direction.

"Duck" was all he said to me as he prepared to shoot.

I ducked, surprising Krista and Jason as Ash shot at them. Krista fell to the ground, her severed arm still gripping my shoulder.

"One down" Ash said, reloading his boomstick "One to go"

He then aimed the boomstick at Jason, who still grabbed my left shoulder and shot.

Unfortunately for me, the shell lodged in my left shoulder, spraying my blood on deadite Jason, who cackled.

"You will never stop us" he cackled, gripping my bloody shoulder tighter "You will lose"

Ash fired again, hitting deadite Jason square in the mouth, blowing off his jaw. Deadite Jason fell to the ground, still holding the book

"You talk too much, Jason" Ash said, cocking his head as I stood up. Ghoulok stared at me in disbelief, wondering how we could have defeated him.

"Any last requests, Ghoulok?" I said, raising my sword. Ghoulok screamed as I lunged at him, decapitating his head. The body and the severed head fell on the ground as I lowered my sword.

I looked at Ash, who looked at me with a smile on his face. I then faced deadite Jason and bent down to pry the book out of his hands. Ash grabbed me by the arm first.

"You gotta say the words" Ash said, wincing at the dagger which was still lodged in his back. "Just in case"

"Right" I said, reaching for the book again "Klattu, Verata, Nichtu"

A beam of light shot out of the book as I took it out of Jason's hands. All of the scattered body parts of the various deadites were soon consumed by flames, and the darkness soon turned into daylight.

It was over…


	24. A Happy EndingSort of

…Ash and I walked hand-in-hand back down the mountain path to the village, where the villagers all waited for us. As soon as they saw the both of us, they all erupted into cheers.

"Oh promised one" A villager said, bowing at my feet "Thank you for saving our village!"

Ash and I walked through the cheering crowd and headed towards Ahmed's hut. The sun shone brightly. The bags we had taken back with us were slightly lighter than what they were when we brought them up the path.

Ahmed waited for us at the entrance of his hut, smiling broadly.

"You have done it" he proclaimed happily "You have saved Ninsun from the evil. Do you have the book?"

I looked at Ash and smiled broadly before reaching into my garment and taking the book out. I handed it to Ahmed.

"Merciful Goddess" Ahmed said, embracing me "Thank you. How can I ever repay you?"

"Give us the passage to take us home" I said, suddenly missing the modern world as I remembered the cabin.

Ahmed led us inside his hut where he handed me a small vial filled with liquid.

"I took the liberty in preparing this for you while you went about your journey" Ahmed said, bowing. "You must say the three magic words you spoke when you retrieved the book and you will be transported back to your own time"

"Thank you" I said to Ahmed, hugging him "I will remember you"

"As I will remember you, promised one" Ahmed said, pulling away to take one last look at us "Godspeed and never forget this place"…

… "Well whaddya know" Ash said, as we trudged up the path back to the cabin with our bags "We go away for days, kill a few deadites, kill a king…and yet the cabin is still here"

I looked ahead to see where he was pointing. It was indeed that the cabin was still standing as we had left it.

"Well" I said, smiling at him before looking at the cabin in the distance again "Last one there is a rotten deadite"

With that, I smacked Ash upside the head and ran the rest of the way, clutching my bag.

"Why you" I heard Ash groan as he ran behind me "I'll get you good"

We ran the remaining distance it took to return to our cabin. It was only a matter of minutes before we both burst inside, panting and out of breath from our run up the path.

"We did it" Ash said, encircling me in his arms as he closed and locked the door behind us.

"Yes we did" I said, smiling broadly as I looked into his alluring dark eyes "We made history together"

He pulled me closer until our lips met in a passionate kiss until we both pulled away.

"I love you, Ashley Williams" I said, smiling at him lovingly.

"I love you, Garnet Henley" he said, returning the loving smile before looking around the room.

"What's wrong?" I asked, as he turned to face me again.

"Nothing" he said, smiling again "Just making sure everything is shut so we can go home. Now we gotta drink that potion and say the words"

Ash and I both held the vial of liquid.

"Klattu, Verata, Nichtu" we chanted together before each taking a sip of the liquid…

… "And thus, when the seas ran red with blood" I announced, changing the slides to my power point presentation "The Necromonicon Ex-Mortis was written. This would be the last known text of the Ancient Sumerian civilization. To this day, the Necromonicon Ex-Mortis is still missing and at large."

Everyone in the lecture hall applauded as I concluded my lecture. Ash sat in the front row, clapping with them.

"Thank you, Miss. Henley" Professor Richards said, smiling at my lecture "Your knowledge of Ancient Sumeria is impressive, and your lecture was superb. Good job"

I thanked the audience for their attention and moved to sit down next to Ash.

"Good job baby" he said, giving me a kiss on the cheek "You did great. I can't believe how our adventure helped you to finish your thesis"

"You were there with me all along" I said, returning the kiss "I couldn't have done it without you"

Ash and I sat there, holding hands as Professor Richards concluded the lecture for the day.

"And I must congratulate Miss. Henley…soon to be Mrs. Williams…on a job well done" Professor Richards concluded, before stopping dead in his tracks.

Ash and I looked all around the room, both thinking something was wrong. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see something walking up to the front of the hall.

"Ash" I hissed, nudging him "Take out your boomstick"

Ash took his boomstick out from under his chair and I unsheathed my sword as we saw a deadite lunge at Professor Richards' throat. We scrambled out of our chairs and rushed to help the Professor.

"Professor" the deadite hissed, applauding as it advanced on Professor Richards "Not only was your little speech stupid...but the whole lecture was a load of crap"

"Hey ugly!" I yelled, as the thing advanced on us "Over here"

"I'll swallow your soul" the deadite hissed, lunging at us.

"That can't be your face" Ash quipped, loading his boomstick "Did your neck throw up?"

With that, Ash shot the deadite twice before I swung with my sword and hacked it in half. Black blood flew everywhere, including all over the audience in the first few rows of the lecture hall.

I turned to see if Professor Richards was alright. He stood there, leaning against his podium in disbelief.

I shrugged and turned to Ash, who turned to me.

"Hail to the king, baby" he said, pulling me close in a dramatic manner.

"Hail to the queen, baby" I replied, yanking his head down to kiss him.

**FIN**

_Once again, I would like to thank Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and the rest of the crew who made the Evil Dead Trilogy come to life for their inspiration in the writing of my fanfic. Hats off to you, guys! Hail to the king, baby!_


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